Gulistan, Land of Roses(HKAFF 2022)

Kurdish-Canadian filmmaker Zaynê Akol intended to make a documentary about Gulîstan, Akol’s role model and a member of the female cadre of guerrillas called the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) Free Women’s Unit. But Akol was unable to find Gulîstan and instead found women in the PKK who knew her. So Akol shifted her focus to the female guerrillas, their recollections of Gulîstan, and their preparations to fight the armed militants of the Islamic State aka ISIS. Shot in Iraqi Kurdistan, this stirring feminist documentary captures the steely resolve and unshakeable courage of remarkable women who would fight for their beliefs against religious fanatics seeking their subjugation.